Walking around lucky and not even know it? We believed we were walking around lucky – and swept the board from Wednesday’s bets. You’re welcome. (Blind squirrel and all that.)
The NBA Finals might be set after Thursday night, the New York Rangers might take a huge step toward their first Stanley Cup in decades and how about those … Tigers?
Dallas Mavericks at Minnesota Timberwolves
If you believe an object in motion stays in motion, then this will be an easy game to solve.
The Mavericks are a 4 1/2-point underdog in Minnesota for their Western Conference finals Game 5 Thursday night – and there will be a Game 6, at least according to Wolves star Anthony Edwards, who promised Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman (and Mavs fan) Micah Parsons that he would see him again. And perhaps bring Parsons a new pair of shoes for Game 6 in Dallas.
Edwards did his part in Game 5 with 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, but it took relatively mediocre games from Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving for Minnesota to avoid the sweep.
This game is very likely to be close – no idea who wins it – and Kyrie simply must score 16+ points while Luka compiles a 25/7/7 night.
Right?
Four-leg parlay: Luka Doncic 25+ points 7+ rebounds 7+ assists with Kyrie Irving 16+ points.
Florida Panthers at New York Rangers
The more we watch this series, the more it becomes clear: The Panthers are the better team.
Although they needed a power-play goal in overtime to even the series in South Florida on Tuesday night, Florida did control a good deal of the game. They deserved the win because of the pressure they pushed on the Rangers defense.
The Panthers outshot New York by a convincing 40-23, won more faceoffs and just seemed to be a more confident team. Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has dueled New York’s Igor Shesterkin to a virtual standoff, and that bodes well for Florida’s chances on Thursday night.
Sam Reinhart, who scored the OT winner in Game 4, Alexsander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and the rest of the Panthers will bring big-time motivation into Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers had better score quickly, or the Panthers will take control of Game 5.
The Rangers need this game, but the Panthers desperately need this game.
Panthers -125 (BetMGM, FanDuel, DraftKings)
Detroit Tigers at Boston Red Sox
The most important ability in sports is availability. Fine.
The next most important ability is dependability.
The Detroit Tigers have a guy on the hill Thursday night who has it.
Veteran right-hander Jack Flaherty is extremely dependable, allowing three earned runs or fewer in seven of his past eight starts. The Red Sox send out Nick Pivetta, who is sometimes spectacular but sometimes a disaster.
The Tigers recovered from a five-game losing streak to win four of their past five games while Boston seems like a team destined for an 81-81 finish.
We’ll bank on early upside with Flaherty and the rejuvenated Detroit offense, led by the red-hot Mark Canha (8-17, .471) and Matt Vierling (9-20, .450).
Detroit Tigers win first five innings -102 (FanDuel)
